Identity
by kakashifangrl1012
Summary: She changed her mind. Nate Ford had never thought himself a hero. But a father? That was a different story. Apparently, once a parent, always a parent. post-finale, Nate/Sophie and some team bonding.


**I know I'm pretty late on this, but in my defense I only saw the finale last week because I was majorly behind on episodes. And, once I was done freaking out, I had to sit down and write this. Of course, it's mostly centered around Sophie and Nate. Enjoy!**

--

She managed to keep it together in the helicopter, in front of the others. She couldn't start crying in front of them; she wouldn't let herself. To distract herself she focused on them.

Elliot looked like he needed to hit someone. He was beyond angry. It reminded her that she was too, and she felt it surge inside her only to be overcome just as quickly by despair. She saw that in him too, just under the anger. Hurt.

Hardison sat next to him, staring out the window. The hacker was brilliant, but he hadn't seemed to process just what had happened yet. He seemed to be trying his hardest not to move, like if he did, if he stopped staring, he would figure it out, and he wasn't ready to accept the truth just yet.

Parker simply looked lost. Maybe even a little scared. Ironic, for someone who jumped off of buildings on a regular basis. Instinctively, Sophie reached over and grabbed her hand, and the thief held on gratefully, though her expression remained unchanged.

The whir of the helicopter blades blocked out any coherent thought, for now; she preferred to be numb.

A slight jar snapped them all out of their various states. Wordlessly, Elliot opened the door and stepped out onto the helipad. Sophie removed a small envelope from her jacket and handed it to the pilot as Parker and Hardison followed Elliot out of the craft.

"You sure you don't want to get farther away than here?" the pilot asked, "It looked dangerous back there."

Sophie shook her head, "No, thank you. We'll take it from here."

The pilot shrugged, as if to say have it your way, and turned his attention back to the controls. She exited the copter as well.

Her fellow thieves awaited her at the door to the roof. The chopper taking off behind her, she walked briskly to the door and pushed it open, taking the stairs down a few flights. She didn't have to look back to know they were following.

Exiting the stairway, they entered a typical hotel hallway, lined with rooms of alternating numbers. She handed a key to Elliot, stopping at an adjacent pair.

"We should be safe here for a couple of hours," she said, pressing the plastic to his palm, "Take whatever you need. I'll be in the room next door… Just give me a while, okay?"

They nodded collectively, and she punched the key card in its slot and entered her room, shutting the door behind her. She shrugged off her coat, warm in the sweater she was wearing and sat down on the bed.

The thoughts were threatening to break through, and knowing it was inevitable, she let them.

Nate was gone.

She let that echo around her head for a moment, and then moved on to the why.

He turned himself in… for the chance for them to escape.

He thought he was being the hero.

What an… arrogant… idiotic… son of a bitch.

He had called her… She was the hero!

She got a helicopter! A bloody helicopter!

And then suddenly, he just took over and turned everything upside down! Like none of it even mattered! She thought he needed her. He said he needed her. Did he? Or was she just part of his plan? Just another piece of the puzzle. Another pawn in the game. She stood up and paced between the two beds in the room. Why did he always make her so angry? Did he always feel the need to make everything more complicated? And then that kiss—

She sank down onto the bed again. There was that.

She put her head in her hands and recoiled at the touch, finding her hands wet. She hadn't even realized she was crying. She stared at them for a while. She thought back to that kiss. Passion, happiness, sadness, desperation, longing… She'd felt them all from him. Teardrops slid into her hands as she took a shaky breath.

But lo…?

L…

She couldn't even bring herself to think the word.

Not if it was just going to be thrown back in her face. Again.

"Sophie?" Elliot's normally strong voice came tentatively from a small gap in the adjoining door between the two rooms.

She furiously wiped away the tears still trailing down her cheeks, "Yeah, come in."

The three of them entered. Parker came to sit next to her on the bed, Hardison across from them on the other. Elliot simply closed the door and leaned against it, overseeing them.

"You okay?" Hardison asked.

Sophie forced a tiny sardonic smile, "Are you all?"

The hacker didn't reply, but looked at Parker; Parker shrugged and looked to Elliot, who crossed his arms.

"Nate's a bastard," he said definitively. "I'm gonna hit him. Hard."

"Taken care of," Sophie replied, her hand tingling in remembrance of its contact with Nate's face.

"You should be mad," Parker stated, ever the blunt one.

"I think she means that you have every right to want to blow Nate's head off," Hardison translated. "He shouldn't have done what he did."

Sophie sighed quietly, "Tara called me. Told me he was getting reckless. I knew it would happen eventually… Then, he called me," she became painfully aware that they were listening to her every word, "Told me he needed me… that he didn't know who he was… that I- I was his compass… Nearly said that he…" she wiped away tears again, shaking her head. "Nevermind."

"…He does," said Elliot.

"What?" she looked up at him.

"Look, Sophie," Elliot came over to sit across from her, looking her in the eye, "If there's two things I know about Nathan Ford, it's that he always has a plan, and he loves you."

She opened her mouth to reply, but no sound came out, only shocked silence.

Hardison shrugged, "It's true; I know it too. Dude cannot hide his emotions; it's all over his face."

"Knew the second you first came out of that theatre; he only had eyes for you, sweetheart," Elliot continued. Parker nodded sagely. "See; even Parker can tell."

They all looked at the thief. She appeared thoughtful, "Yeah, you guys just kinda go together," she shrugged at their confused looks, "You know like peanut butter and jelly, a lock and lock picks. Nate and Sophie."

Sophie actually managed a hoarse chuckle at this description. She took a deep breath and looked at them all. His family, he'd said.

And his reasoning became entirely clear to her.

"You can add one more thing to that list," she said, "Because if there's one thing _I_ know about Nathan Ford, it's that he puts his family above everything else."

They exchanged looks.

"_We're_ his family," Parker stated, a familiar confidence returning in her voice.

Elliot nodded, "We need a plan."

"We gotta get him back," Hardison concluded determinedly.

"We will," Sophie declared.

Love.

Was it possible?

She observed the three thieves sitting around her, bouncing ideas off of each other to come up with a way to get their leader back. Working together. A team. A family.

She smiled.

Crazier things had happened.

--

**So? I was thinking about writing something from Nate's perspective too. Whaddya think?**


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